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cut

Craft Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Cut means to divide or shape by slicing or removing material; in poetry, it can suggest sharpness, brevity, separation, or the sculpting of language.

Detailed Definition
In literal craft, cut is one of the basic acts of shaping material. In poetry, it may describe the pruning of words, the sudden break of a line, or the emotional sting of separation. It is a craft term because poetic writing often depends on cutting away excess to reveal form.
Example
Example in poetry:
Enjambment cuts a sentence across line breaks, creating tension and forward momentum; A poet may cut a poem down through revision, removing excess words to sharpen its impact; Caesura cuts a line internally, creating a pause that shapes rhythm and emphasis; A poet describing loss might use the image of a rope being cut to symbolize sudden separation; Editors and poets alike cut weaker stanzas from a draft to strengthen the whole; A poem about surgery or violence might use cutting imagery literally to explore vulnerability of the body.
Additional Notes
Cut is among the most fundamental craft terms in poetry, referring both to the literal cutting of excess material during revision and to more figurative uses describing sharpness, brevity, or emotional pain; the term is closely tied to discussions of enjambment and line breaks, since a line can be said to be "cut" at a particular point to create rhythmic or semantic effect; instructors often emphasize that cutting is not merely subtractive but constitutive, since what a poet chooses to cut shapes the poem as significantly as what remains, echoing sculptural metaphors of revealing form through removal.
Also Known As
slice carve trim sever incise reap shear
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